Is a touchscreen useful/effective while programming?

Question

Does anyone have experiences if working with a touch screen monitor is useful and effective while programming? I mean most things an effective programmer will do with the keyboard, but I wonder if the other things (clicking through menus, scrolling through compilation logs, and of course copy'n'paste) can be done more efficiently with a touch screen than with a mouse.

Answer 1

I believe that is very subjective question, in my case even mouse can be overhead.

Answer 2

Touchscreens are far more fun than practical for software development. Except for testing mobile apps or demonstrating coolness to friends, I find my touchscreen mentally disruptive and unproductive for most web and business development.

When you switch from one data entry device to another there is always a pause to position your hand(s) to the home position. Many people first swirl their mouse to find the pointer on the screen. I find it takes extra concentration just to decide whether to use the screen or the mouse.

If your monitor is wall sized or you have seriously modified your display preferences, you might be able to get small increments on a scroll bar or accurate selection from a list box. Cut and paste is a horrible game with my fingers.

The most significant problem (with nearly all mobile phones as well) is browsing webpages because many web sites simply do not function without a hover event. This makes css and javascript menus, tool tips, balloon tips, popups and even some hyperlinks completely unusable.

Lastly it makes you look really foolish when you touch a normal monitor and nothing happens.

Answer 3

No, I wouldn't recommend it.

My company sells industrial systems that have a 21" touchscreen, so I have some experience with them. They're great when you don't have the space for mouse&keyboard, when the application that's running on the screen has been designed for a touchscreen (i.e. no right-click, much larger buttons, no important text under a button - because you don't see it when you click the button, and so on) and when you only have to do a few clicks to see some information. Whenever I stand in front of a touchscreen and have to (a) type more than 10 characters (b) click a target that's less than 20 pixels big or (c) use windows explorer, I go get a USB keyboard and use it instead of the touchpad. Even if I have to hold the keyboard it in one hand and type and use the trackpad with the other.

PS: I don't think this is a subjective question. Human beings are more or less built alike. Sitting and holding one arm up against a screen for a long time will make our arms any our backs hurt badly. That's not really subjective. And typical programmer applications just aren't built for touchscreen usage - they require right-clicks, they sometimes require hover, to use them you need to click very small targets, and you need to see where you click when you click (e.g. if you want to select some text).